Istanbul Airport Transit Assistance

Turkey Airports Assistance provides transit help at Istanbul Airport for passengers connecting between flights without leaving the airport. A greeter meets you at the arrival gate, takes you through transfer security and, where your itinerary requires it, transfer immigration and baggage re-check, then walks you to your departure gate. Book with both flight numbers.

Why connecting is a different problem

A connecting passenger usually never reaches arrivals passport control at all, so the queue everyone writes about is not the one you are standing in. Your route runs through transfer security and, depending on your tickets and passport, transfer immigration. Istanbul Airport is vast, and a gate-to-gate walk can cross the full length of it. What costs people a connection here is the walking, the transfer checks, and finding out too late that the bags were not through-checked. If you are ending your journey in Istanbul rather than connecting, you want Istanbul Airport meet and greet instead.

What happens, step by step

• At the arrival gate. Your greeter is waiting as you come off the first aircraft, holding a name board with your name on it. They already have your onward flight and its gate.
• Transfer security. You are taken to the transfer security check rather than back out through arrivals, and through the dedicated lane where one is available for your connection.
• Transfer immigration, if your itinerary needs it. Some connections require you to clear immigration and some do not. Your greeter knows which applies to your route, so you are not sent to the wrong hall and back.
• Baggage re-check, if your bags are not through-checked. Where you have to collect and re-drop your luggage, your greeter takes you to reclaim, helps with the trolley, and takes you to the transfer bag drop.
• To your departure gate. You are walked to the gate for the onward flight. The service ends at the gate, not at the end of the transfer corridor.

What is included

• A greeter meeting you at the arrival gate with a name board
• Guidance through transfer security, and the dedicated lane where one is available
• Assistance at transfer immigration where your itinerary requires it
• Help at baggage reclaim and transfer bag drop where bags are not through-checked
• Escort to your departure gate
• Lounge access at Istanbul Airport, where the IGA Lounge is included in the service and your connection allows the time
• A team reachable 24 hours a day, before and during your connection

If your inbound flight is delayed

This matters more on a connection than on any other booking, because a delay can remove the connection altogether rather than just move your meeting time. Your greeter monitors the inbound flight and adjusts to the new arrival time. If the connection is already lost by the time you land, rebooking is a matter for the airline that holds your ticket; your greeter can take you to the transfer desk and stay with you while it is sorted out. If a flight is diverted or cancelled, our operations team reviews the booking against the circumstances and the applicable service terms.

Travelling with someone who needs wheelchair assistance

Formal wheelchair and reduced-mobility assistance is provided by your airline, not by us, and must be requested from the airline in advance — Turkish Airlines asks for at least 48 hours’ notice, and on a connection it should be requested for both flights. Where that has been arranged, our greeter can coordinate with the airline’s ground staff. Our service is additional to the airline’s assistance and does not replace it.

How to book

Send both flight numbers, the date, and how many passengers and bags are travelling. Tell us whether your bags are checked through, because that one fact changes the route your greeter takes you on. Each booking is quoted individually, because the price depends on the airport, the number of passengers, the date and the luggage. Taxes are included in the figure you are given. Payment is taken at the time of booking, by card, through Stripe or PayPal.

You can change or cancel a booking free of charge up to 48 hours before the scheduled flight time. Within 48 hours, or a no-show, is charged in full. The full terms are on our Cancellation and Refund Policy page.

Questions

How much connection time do I need for this to be worth booking?

Send us the two flight numbers and we will tell you what the connection involves. We will not put a number of minutes on it: the honest answer depends on which terminal areas your flights use, whether you clear transfer immigration, and whether the bags are through-checked. A short connection with through-checked bags can be comfortable, and a longer one with a baggage re-check can be tight. Arriving into Istanbul rather than connecting through it is a different route with a different queue, covered on our Istanbul Airport fast track page.

Will you hold my onward flight if we are running late?

No. No assistance service can hold an aircraft, and any that says it can is describing something it does not control. What a greeter changes is that you are moving the right way from the moment you step off, instead of reading signs.

Is this an official airport or airline service?

No. This is a private commercial service, not operated by or affiliated with any airport authority, airline or government body. It is delivered with local handling partners at each airport.

Send us both flight numbers and the date and we will confirm what your connection involves.